tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post2728185528478809065..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Rediscovering the Art of Writing - Lynne GarnerKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-63731182504180097662015-08-13T01:48:13.581+01:002015-08-13T01:48:13.581+01:00Fascinating piece and lively discussion. No debate...Fascinating piece and lively discussion. No debate for me, though: the hand rules. I love defiling pristine Moleskines--but even I have my limits. I use a pencil, never a pen!glitter noirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11728649916344336118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-73357496724124703392015-08-11T08:29:17.425+01:002015-08-11T08:29:17.425+01:00Jo - I know what you mean about asking for trouble...Jo - I know what you mean about asking for trouble by getting out a tablet etc. In the past when I've had an idea I've put it in the notepad on my phone.<br /><br />Leela - I'm glad I'm not the only one who writes down overheard conversation, a great source of inspiration.<br /><br />Lydia, Leela and Katherine - so pleased to read I'm not the only one with handwriting that is untidy. <br /><br /> Lynne Garnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05697330164705623835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-66801175588183195232015-08-09T17:32:53.237+01:002015-08-09T17:32:53.237+01:00I use my tablet if I cant take my laptop on a jour...I use my tablet if I cant take my laptop on a journey. That is also slower than the laptop but at east I can read what I've written. The slowing down is useful. Love writing on trains. Get loads done on the journey from Manchester to London.<br />Gill Gill Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00632631163777155215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-87635355865256840952015-08-09T17:26:27.094+01:002015-08-09T17:26:27.094+01:00Lynne, like you I do a lot of train travel. The tr...Lynne, like you I do a lot of train travel. The train journey to visit my mum is about six and a half hours each way, plus time on my own in a hotel, so I always take notebooks and pencils - plus my Kindle, for when I need a break! I've always written by hand, but not a whole draft - I'd be too worried about losing it or not being able to read it. I word-process and save frequently. One advantage of writing by hand is that when you change something you cross stuff out - but it's STILL THERE, and sometimes first thoughts are best, and you might want to come back to them. I'm a touch-typist and I grew up with manual typewriters. I do miss the satisfying slam of the carriage return, but not enough to give up all the benefits of word-processing. Thank goodness we no longer need all those carbon copies and Tippex.Ann Turnbullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06484265041343702129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-46351683765735008822015-08-09T10:25:24.076+01:002015-08-09T10:25:24.076+01:00Aeons ago, one of my writer friends said she had t...Aeons ago, one of my writer friends said she had to take her (then v. bulky) computer with her whenever she needed to write, as she had lost the link between her writing hand and her brain. I was horrified and promised myself I wouldn't go that way. Ha ha! Now, I struggle to get my thoughts down by hand and when I do, they are all but illegible - so a huge thank you for pointing out the need to slow it all down!Sandra Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01761260568729338471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-54417639062691776312015-08-08T23:35:38.455+01:002015-08-08T23:35:38.455+01:00I have gone back to writing first drafts by hand -...I have gone back to writing first drafts by hand - then I go to the computer for second draft onwards. I actually find writing by hand is faster (almost twice the speed, surprisingly - possibly because I'm not tempted to keep stopping to edit as I go?) and feels much more direct without any of the associated health risks of using a screen. I'm left-handed... does this make a difference? Nobody can read my handwritten drafts except me, though, so it's not pretty!Katherine Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-33807643403601532732015-08-08T15:16:10.905+01:002015-08-08T15:16:10.905+01:00I've switched over more and more to using the ...I've switched over more and more to using the computer, even for first drafts of poems which always used to be hand written - however my 'morning pages' have been hand written and it's a very different experience, but I can't slow myself down so they are practically illegible to anyone but me. Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-30950113558008364162015-08-08T15:07:06.803+01:002015-08-08T15:07:06.803+01:00I mix it up. Mostly I write straight onto the comp...I mix it up. Mostly I write straight onto the computer - but when I go to write in a pub (as I often do) or when I'm away from home, I scribble in a notepad. I'm not fussy about the note-pad: the cheapest one, lined or unlined,will do. I don't buy stylish pads because they're not the cheapest - but if someone bought me one, I'd write in it. I know no bounds, me.<br /><br />Am much fussier about the pen. It has to be smooth, not scratchy, fast-flowing, scribbly, so I can write fast.<br /><br />Occasionally an idea arrives together with the idea that it HAS to be written by hand, on paper - so I obey that impulse instead of struggling with it. I have no idea why that happens.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-83931434946851944082015-08-08T15:02:44.914+01:002015-08-08T15:02:44.914+01:00Noooo ... you cannot sully a notebook with ink! &#...Noooo ... you cannot sully a notebook with ink! 'Tis sacrilege! Notebooks - particularly those which are hardback or bound with faux or real leather - are designed to be looked at and occasionally lovingly stroked.....Debbie Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06761474820689143835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-11563840959946764392015-08-08T12:26:04.351+01:002015-08-08T12:26:04.351+01:00My brain is wired to my keyboard and computer so I...My brain is wired to my keyboard and computer so I do all my writing that way. However, if I wake up early in the morning with a scene running through my head I dash to the study in my nightie and scribble it down on the back of any spare paper that is sitting there. I just have to be careful I don't bin it before I transfer it to the computer. Oh, and I know that feeling about notebooks. I have loads that are too nice to write in, and I can't resist buying them.Chris Longmuirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02488093821886798927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-60164818446773946772015-08-08T11:28:20.681+01:002015-08-08T11:28:20.681+01:00I have a stash of notebooks that are 'too nice...I have a stash of notebooks that are 'too nice to use' as well. I've recently discovered that T K Maxx sometimes has blank Moleskine notebooks with colourful covers and I'm acquiring a little pile of them, pink, purple, although I DO bring myself to use those. I hate lined paper, so always go hunting for the unlined variety. Art shops are great - those lovely sketching notebooks are excellent for writing in too! And my favourite pens are those green (the pen, not the ink) Berol Italic Pens. Quite obsessive about those as well. Like Leela, I take notes in notebooks, occasionally draft out a blog post or plan something - but always do first drafts on the computer and I don't think I could do it any other way now. I never learned to touch type formally, but I use six fingers, don't ever look at the keyboard and type very fast - which I suppose most people do these days. I wear out keyboards. And I agree about poems. Don't write many poems these days, but first drafts of those were and still are on paper. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-24942027100752219702015-08-08T09:53:42.275+01:002015-08-08T09:53:42.275+01:00Lynne, like you I tend to go straight to the lapto...Lynne, like you I tend to go straight to the laptop for prose, but poetry is a completely different thing. A wee book, scraps of paper is always on my bedside table and scribbles, some that I can't decipher appear on them! Also like Jo I tend to scribble wee notes when I'm travelling. Observations, scenes, even snippets of conversations, overheard on a train or a bus stop is good to jot down and extremely helpful to trigger ideas later. Leelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10190446612816700008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-77195995769987779032015-08-08T09:05:32.386+01:002015-08-08T09:05:32.386+01:00I scribble in notebooks all the time. And when I&#...I scribble in notebooks all the time. And when I'm travelling, and write in cafes and at bus stations and any other unlikely stop, it's the safest way to do it (getting a tablet out in a crowded stations feels like asking to get it nicked). <br /><br />Once I'm home, I use notebooks as much for playing with ideas as anything else. When these begin to crystalise into something that might look like a structure, then the laptop comes out. JOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03127111575563904349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-56865407154781818672015-08-08T08:56:28.558+01:002015-08-08T08:56:28.558+01:00I agree, it is a totally different experience writ...I agree, it is a totally different experience writing by hand. I believe it makes you think in different ways. However, Instill prefer keyboard for the major bulk of the work Wendy H. Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04022089775887274043noreply@blogger.com